Francesco Vida (11 September 1903 – 1 June 1985) was an Italian military officer and skier.
Biography
Vida, born in
Gorizia
Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
Bersaglieri
The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Ar ...
corps of the Italian army in 1923. From 1925 to 1929 he attended the
Military Academy of Modena
The Military Academy of Modena () is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Ducal Palace of Modena in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in the world.
The academy i ...
, before he joined the
Alpini
The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...
corps, where he became skiing instructor in 1931 and in 1934 one of 92 military academic mountaineers (alpinista accademico militare) of the ''Scuola Militare di Alpinismo'' (SCMA; today: Centro Addestramento Alpino) in
Aosta
Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...
1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...
, where the Italian competition team placed first. During the closing ceremony of the event he was the
standard-bearer
A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as ...
of the Italian representation.Storia Sportmilitarealpino.it At the fourth edition of the Trofeo Mezzalama in 1936, Vida, Sergeant Carlo Ronc and Sergeant Luigi Perenni, his team placed first. Later he became commander of the SCMA in the rank of a lieutenant colonel. Later he was advanced to general.
He died in
East London, Eastern Cape
East London (; ) is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ( ...